The continuous fiber model is provided as an add-on module with the standard Ansys Fluent licensed software.

Several fiber spinning techniques exist in industrial fiber production. The most common types are melt spinning and dry spinning.

In melt spinning, the polymer is heated above its melting point and extruded in a liquid state through nozzles into a vertical spinning chamber. The molten polymer is processed in an inert gas environment, such as nitrogen, then extruded at high pressure and a constant rate into a cooler air stream, thus solidifying the fiber filaments.

In dry spinning, the liquefaction of the polymer is obtained by dissolving it in a suitable solvent. This technique often is applied to polymers that are destroyed thermally before reaching its melting point or if the production process leads to a solvent/polymer mixture. In the spinning chamber, the solvent vaporizes by drying with a hot air stream. The solidification ensures that the fiber is nearly free of solvent.

Ansys Fluent’s continuous fiber model allows you to analyze the behavior of fiber flow, fiber properties, and coupling between fibers and the surrounding fluid due to the strong interaction that exists between the fibers and the surrounding gas.

This document describes the Ansys Fluent Continuous Fiber model. Modeling Continuous Fibers provides theoretical background information.

The procedure for setting up and solving fiber spinning flows is described in detail in this chapter. Only the steps related to fiber modeling are shown here.